How does it feel? (hint: not good)

How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

How does it feel?  How does it feel to be realignment losers two years in a row?  How does it feel to see your team blow their chance at the baseball playoffs?  How does it feel?  We'll explore that and so much more in the links:

(1) If you read nothing else, read this article by OKTC about how Mizzou fans have to fight for their right to be in the SEC.  The article starts where the theory of Big 12 stability starts, with OU's President's statement saying the members schools have agreed to give their 1st and 2nd tier media rights to the Big 12 central offices for 6 years, meaning the teams are tied to the conference and can't leave for that period of time.  Except like most stuff said in the Big 12 these days, it wasn't true.  As the Big 12 President, Deaton, pointed out a few minutes later, the Presidents had agreed TO DISCUSS sharing the rights but hadn't agreed TO SHARE the rights.  That, and the fact Deaton announced his press conference and then OU announced theirs--to start a few minutes before.  In other words: same old Big 12, same old dysfunction.  Says OKTC:

Then another Big 12 official said the league was in "philosophical agreement," but no committments had actually been made.

Philosophical agreement? Is this ancient Greece or the Big 12? You can't even make up these quotes any longer. The Big 12 is officially past the point of satire. The only people celebrating after today? Aggie fans all over Texas are building bonfires and rejoicing, their long Texas nightmare is almost over. These dueling press conferences just proved why the Aggies wanted out so bad.

But you can't say the same for Missouri.  The Tigers have managed to be the biggest loser in conference realignment the past two years.

They continue:


If I was a Missouri fan I'd be furious over this double failure. I'd fight for the SEC. Because the Big Ten isn't calling and at some point the Big 12 is still going to crumble as a major conference. We all know this. So if you're Missouri wouldn't you rather control your own fate rather than sink into the mid-tier abyss of college athletics? Mountain West on line one! 

Put another way, if you'd known the Titanic was going to sink, would you have climbed aboard and risked your chances on hopping on the lifeboats? Or would you maybe have not gotten on the Titanic to begin with? The Big 12 is the Titanic, and the iceberg is Texas. The Big 12 is sinking, the only question is when.

OKTC goes on to make fun of OU for claiming to be a double agent against the Pac-10 on behalf of the Big 12, as they have claimed in recent days.  The money quote: "Seriously, the university said this.
If Oklahoma was a double agent, it's got a lot more in common with Austin Powers than it does James Bond."


(2) Feel some hope that all might not be lost; the KC Star says Mizzou to SEC is still in play.  It was telling that our University President, on a national stage acting as the Big 12 Conference President, didn't firmly commit to Mizzou having a future in the conference. 

(3) T-shirt and sports jackets says that's because Missouri is playing the maverick.  If you read a second article, read this one.  He says of Gary Pinkel: "Pinkel is not all that fun in a press conference. He’s not witty. He’s not gregarious. He’s not charming. But if you need someone to talk straight, he seems like your guy. Those comments mirrored something Pinkel said a few weeks ago. Sounds like he — and thus Missouri — are fed up."

(4) A lot of folks are trying to determine conference expansion winners and losers.  Sam Mellinger says the two winners in this Big 12 mess are Beebe and Frank Haith.  Beebe's getting paid not to deal with it and the more the Big 12 embarrasses itself on the national stage, the less people are talking about Frank Haith.

(5) The Statesman picks the Big 12 as the losers, saying: "The conference is alive. But for how long? When asked if he felt good that no other Big 12 school might leave, Dodds said: "I feel confident. But who do you believe anymore?" Exactly."  That can't make anyone feel too good.

(6) How big of the mess is the Big 12 in?  Well, its future is hinging on a vote to revenue share.  That vote failed last spring.  The future doesn't look that bright.

(7) The past, actually, wasn't that bright either.  This mess started from the beginning of the formation of the Big 12.  Not a surprise, it started with a fight with Texas.  Some interesting stuff in here.

(8) Little Man says we need one voice to lead us out of the mess.  That possible voice is a blast from the past.  That's right, the man in charge of the Big 8 is back and he's pretty much seen it all.  Here's a pretty bland Q&A with the new boss.  

(9) Greg Doyal feel all of this mess is just high school drama. 

(10) You'll need a translator to weed through all of the BS being bantered about.

(11) One thing you won't need a translator for: to realize that the biggest loser in all of this us OU.  They messed with Texas and got beat down.  Contrast that to the Children of the Corn and the Aggies, both of whom made brilliant escapes.  OU has lost all of its bargaining power.  Mizzou know how that feels.

(12) Mizzou Alum Pat Forde was feeling good when he spoke with hope that the Big 12 could regain trust and traction the day after the Pac-12's announcement.  That went out the window with OU's lies last night.

(13) I'm feeling good in knowing that we can celebrate the fact that Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe is gone, something Gary Parrish predicted quite a while ago. EDSBS predicts the Beebes will get a chance to right all his wrongs, Quantum Leap style. 

(14) What's worse than being stuck in the Big 12?  The feeling of being in the Big East.  Rutgers and UConn refused to pledge loyalty to the conference.  With Beebe gone, they now have the worst commish in college sports. 

(15) Who has the best?  The Big 10, who ain't expanding.  So how does that make you feel?  Its SEC or bust. 

(16) Speaking of SEC, these t-shirts and a lot of these fashion nightmares belong to them.

Summary
I'm not buying what the Big 12 is selling and, evidently, neither is Deaton or Mizzou.  Let's hope we don't take a Big 12 deal just to take a deal and let's hope the administration is willing to fight for the SEC if they have to.  The SEC isn't a picnic (just look at the t-shirt link above) and isn't our most desired or best destination, but its a hell of a lot better than incompetence and dysfunction we're currently in. 

Like a cockroach, or a virus, the Big 12 survives

While things could fall apart again rather quickly, its appears as if the Big 12 has survived and will survive for another year, minimum.  There are some great debates going on as to if this was good new or bad news.  My thoughts can be summed up in this post by Tim McKernan.  In short, would the SEC have been a difficult and possibly unsuccessful transition?  Yes.  Would it have brought more stability, academic credibility, and football excitement?  Absolutely.  I value the latter more than I worry about the former.  It's risk/reward and I think the move was worth the risk.

OKTC says that the Big 12 makes Ron and Sammi look stable.  He agrees with what others are saying: Texas A&M is gone to the SEC but Mizzou to the SEC is pretty much dead in the water.  It looks like we'd rather see what happens in the Big 12 than fight our way into the SEC.  Something, like I said in the previous post, that would involve us fighting to get out and serving as the President of the Big 12 Board of Directors. 

As the Tulsa World reports, there is consensus that Beebe is out and perhaps the former Big East commish is in on an interim basis.  While it wouldn't solve all of the problems, its at least a good first step.  OU is the some that stepped up and called for his ouster.  Of course, its easier to step up and make bold moves when you've got no other options left of the table. 

The OU plan is just crazy enough to work, say the Oklahoman.  What's in the plan?  A few exerts:

(1) No Beebe
(2) No high school highlights on the Longhorn Network
(3) No Big 12 games on the Longhorn Network
(4) Restrictions on the Longhorn Network
(5) Revenue sharing of Tier 1 and 2 television rights to all Big 12 members

It's a start...a start that would have been great 24 months ago. 

The Big 12 Board of Directors is getting together for one last go of things, says Andy Katz.  Discussion points at the meeting: (1) The OU Plan, (2) Beebe, and (3) how to lock in 5-6 years of stability for the conference.

Part of that, eventually, will locking in new members.  1, 2, or 3 more members is still in the air as well as how new members could/would dilute the payouts to current member schools.

Summary
Much like the people of Libya, the Big 12 is all in this mess together and despite the happy statements coming from college presidents and ADs, no one outside of the Big 12 bottom feeders who were going to be left conference-less can be very excited about the future prospects.  There is no way Beebe or any other leader can find schools that will be an even exchange or an upgrade from the schools we lost.  In other words, the best victory possible at this point is a league that's worse than it once was.  The degrees of worse and the fear of getting pounded in the SEC will determine if the fan base accepts our fate happily or with embarrassment and anger.  The fear of regular SEC poundings was/is real, I'm not debating that point.  But the fact that our league won't be as good as it once was is also very real and can't be debated.  If we add Houston, SMU, and Air Force...that fear of SEC poundings will get less and less and the embarrassment and anger of staying in the Big 12 will grow more and more. 

I Give Up

I give up.  We don't have a league and 6 hours later we do and six hours after that we don't again.  Here is what went down:

(1) The Pac-12 decided it wanted to stay the Pac 12 at around 11 pm eastern time last night.  In that instant that the press release went out, our brothers and sisters at OU knew what we all felt like a year ago with the Big 10.  Welcome to the club.  The club sucks.

(2) What happened to the OU-Pac 12 deal? No one knows, but here is a pretty good FAQ.  Basically, the Pac-12 Presidents balked at OK State, OU, and TX Tech's academic record.  Seriously?  They pick now to start talking academics?  At any rate the FAQ also says Mizzou ain't going to the SEC yet and OU has a list of demands...

(3) ...as covered yesterday, one of those is getting rid of Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe.  Great article in KC Star about this very topic.  

(4) SI says that the Pac-12 balked because it wasn't going to create special rules for Texas.  Mr. Longhorn is probably drawing up another set of even more special rules to keep them in the Big 12, doubling down on his double down of his Keep-TX-Happy strategy.  For those of you scoring at home, that strategy has cost us three schools and has led to four others wanting out.

(5) Some are pulling for the Big 12 to stay together, as are some loyal readers of this blog.  The Big 12 has to replace some schools and indications are OU wants to head back to 12 schools and not stay at 10.  Under the scenario, here is what our football schedule could look like: (1) Non-Conference, (2) Non-Conference, (3) Non-Conference, (4) ISU, (5) K-State, (6) kU, (7) Airforce, (8) Louisville, (9) SMU, (10) OK State, (11) Baylor, (12) Texas Tech.  How is ESPN GameDay going to choose which ones of these exciting match-ups to cover?!?!?!  Keeping the Big 12 together sounds nice, but the Big 12 isn't the Big 12 anymore.  Nebraska was a national powerhouse, A&M had a rich history and appears on the rise, and for all the shit we talk about Colorado, they won a National Championship in our lifetimes.  The dream is dead, and now we are just caught up in the long nightmare. 

(6) Calmer heads prevailed in realignment says Pre-Snap Read.  I can tell you who prevailed: the ACC, Big 10, and Pac-12.  I long for the day when my school belongs to real conference.

(7) People are still saying we have an SEC offer.  It should make for an interesting Curators meeting on Thursday.

(8) T Boone Pickets: still an asshole.  This guy thinks he single-handedly controls college football.  I will he would try controlling his mouth.

Summary
I don't see how we bolt the SEC seeing as how Deaton is the Big 12 President this year.  I also don't see the league breaking up because without the Pac-12 taking some of the teams, there just aren't enough places for the rest to go.  So it leaves 'Ole Mizzou in one of three places:

(1) Living life in a loveless marriage where your partner(s) are cheating on you and always looking to upgrade in the future.
(2) Praying ND joins the Big 10 and we get an invite.
(3) Risking lawsuit by joining the SEC with A&M. 

I've listed them in the order likelihood.  This will go on for a while...enjoy the ride? 

Daily Recap: What we know and what we don't

In my attempt to bring some order to the chaos, here is a daily recap of what we know and what we don't:

(1) We know DeArmond of the KC Star cited a Mizzou booster as staying that Mizzou was offered a spot in the SEC.

(2) We know that the SEC told the St. Louis P-D that no offer has been extended.  More accurately, they said they have not extended an offer beyond Arkansas, South Carolina, and most recently Texas A&M. 

(3) We know that Out Kick the Coverage has been right about everything they have reported thus far, other than possible SEC alignment if they move to 16 teams.  We know they tweeted that "Mizzou leaked info to see if Big 10 wants to make play.  SEC wants this quiet."  If that's the case, we have a reckless booster who went rogue or an administration with a large set of brass balls. 

(4) We know there are reports of Deaton trying to save the conference, or at least he is trying to give the impression he is trying to.

(5) We know OU has a list of demands that need to be met for it to stay and we know two are (1) putting rules on the Longhorn Network and (2) removing Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe as Commissioner.  FINALLY, SOME SANITY TO THESE DISCUSSIONS.

(6) We know the Mizzou Curators are meeting Thursday morning. 

(7) What we don't know is what shreds of truth there are in numbers 1-5 above.  My best guess?  We got the offer from the SEC, we tried to leverage it, our attempt at leverage may blow up in our face, and the Big 12 is un-saveable. 

To keep the band together, here is what has to happen: Texas has to admit it was wrong by wanting its own set of rules to play by and it has to start playing by a set of rules that are being carved out, largely, by one of their biggest rivals, OU.  Does that sound like a deal Texas is going to accept?  Hardly. 

I don't want to move conferences, but the truth is there is no Big 12 anymore anyway.  Its time to move forward.  We should be finding out what direction "forward" takes us in within days or weeks.

OUR LONG NIGHTMARE IS OVER: MIZZOU HAS SEC OFFER? (and another nightmare begins)

The KC Star says our long national nightmare is over, Mizzou has been extended an offer to join the SEC.  Actually, Mike DeArmond of the KC Star says that and he says that because a booster says that.  Hence the question mark above.  "Don't believe anything until the ink has dried," is what I say.  I also happen to say "Chop Mike DeArmond up into a bunch of little pieces and spread him from 'Bama to South Carolina if he's wrong on this one." 

At any rate, SB Nation thinks enough of the report (or of DeArmond) that they are citing it, too. 

PowerMizzou.com has a free article with some interesting questions:

(1) Could Mizzou make the move to the SEC independent of what Oklahoma and Oklahoma State decide?

(2) Will the desire to keep the Big 12 intact win out, if the Oklahoma schools opt to stay?

(3) If Oklahoma and Oklahoma State do leave, is that the final blow that cannot be overcome, and does that launch Missouri to the SEC? Or could Texas somehow scrape together enough support to keep the Tigers around and hold a watered-down version of the conference together? 

My answers are YES, NO, YES/NO.  What are yours?  Post in the comments. 

While you are posting consider answering any of these questions: 

(1) How the hell are we going to compete in the SEC in football?  One nightmare ends, another begins.
(2) Will the Bigelows get a divorce because one conference isn't big enough for the both of them?
(3) How much more racist does the Mizzou fan base need to get to fit into the rest of the SEC fan base?
(4) Does this mean we have to learn to speak pig, or whatever it is they speak in Arkansas at the games?
(5) What will the division alignment in the SEC look like?
(6) Will there be 14 or 16 teams?
(7) What will the fan base do to DeArmond if he happens to be wrong?
(8) Are there standard issue SEC jorts, or can we just make our own?
(9) Can kU be team 15 or 16 and at this point how much do your care?
(10) Will we have to share our "secret" of indoor plumbing with the State of Alabama?
(11) Can we now marry, or at minimum kiss our sisters?
(12) Would you rather be in a Big 12 with "leftovers" (Iowa State and Baylor type leftovers) or the SEC? or Would you rather be in the ACC or SEC? 

Summary
Breathe easy.  I'm feeling much better than when I wrote the "Fog of War" blog just a few hours ago.  Worst case scenario we're move from the best football league in the country to the next best football league in the country.  That's a pretty good worst case scenario.   

Fog of War

Battles may be won or lost rather quickly, but wars often times drag on for while until one side simply runs out of resources or willpower.  Ditto college football expansion.  It appears as if we are talking weeks not days as OU's Prez says he wants this figured out "sooner [ed note: get it?!?! sooners...get it...] rather than later" while the TX Prez says he wants this done in "two weeks."  In other words, hunker down, we'll be fighting for sometime.  Here are the links:

(1) If the first causality of war was the Big East, the second is West Virginia.  Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports tweets that he has confirmation from a West Virginia Administrator that the school has been turned down by both the SEC and ACC.  Good news for Mizzou. 

(2) Out Kick the Coverage was on top of the West Virginia story a day ago, as they have consistently with all of their leads.  Today they're saying the SEC expands to 16 and has four four-team pods with an extended playoff for the SEC championship.  Its an out-of-the-box idea but one that merits some consideration.  I'm a purist, so my initial thoughts were it was a bad idea, but I'm also pro football playoffs and this would be a big step in that direction.  Who does the SEC add to get to 16?  They say A&M, Mizzou, Va Tech, and NC State(?!?). 

(3) In what can only be described as "cute" the Mountain West and C-USA are talking about merging to try and get around a 50 team league that is a BCS auto-qualifier.  You might want to bookmark that link, its a constantly updated series of posts by SB Nation on the minute-by-minute goings on.  Its rather informative. 

(4) Another story in that link, the Big East is holding 'Cuse and Pitt to the 27 month rule to leave the Big East.  I guess that is more mature than filing a lawsuit, but not by much.

(5) Speaking of lawsuits, the jerks from Baylor are trying to pass off bad data as "scientific" to build their case to hold the Little 9 together.  Keep in mind its the same Baylor Bears who jumped ship from their conference into the Big 12 not too long ago. 

(6) Don't be confused by the headline that the Big 10 is warming up to Mizzou as a member.  It's not.  The Big 10 blogger for ESPN is warming up....and evidently bad at his job give the confusion.

(7) The timing if the Big 12 breakup is ironic, seeing as how we're now the best football conference in the nation (and that's without Nebraska).

(8) Andy Katz also laments what could have been in basketball if the Big 12 had stayed together.  

(9) Frank the Tank thinks that if the Big 10 expands, it goes east not west.  Or I think that his what he says.  Either I'm not picking up what he's putting down, or he's just confusing sometimes.

(10) Speaking of confusing, here's a great article about my BFF Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe.  First, he produces a grammatically incorrect statement about Texas and OU and then he claims that the "Case for Big 12 as strong today as it was last year."  I used to get mad at him for doing nothing, but now I see that doing nothing was/is his strong suit.

(11) Berry Tramel of the Oklahoman likes to do a few things: (a) Wear t-shirts under sport jackets, (b) take shots at Missouri for starting the conference switch a year ago, and (c) defend Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe.  Despite those facts, he is right in this article in that it doesn't matter who the Little 9 could add to the league, the Big 12 is dead and it died because of lack of trust and partnership (and I would add sports writers who wear t-shirts under sport jackets). 

(12) Finally, you have to click here.  Its about a journey west on the Pac Trail.

Summary
I've got expansion fatigue.  Everyone is grasping at straws.  I'm hoping the Big 10 takes ND or the SEC wraps its loving arms around us as #14.

Thanks for reading,

Doug

Zero Hour?

Code Blue has been called and the docs are working on what's left of the Big 12.  The Priest has been sent in to sit with the family.  The Big 12's gotten off the operating table before, but this time it looks grim.  Here is what folks are saying:

(1) 'Cuse and Pitt have been accepted into the ACC.  As the article states: "The Longhorn Network started all of this."  Only thing standing in their way: 27 months and 5 million.  That's the Big East exit fee and time delay in getting out of their conference contract.  The 5 million ain't a problem, the 27 months is.  College Football should look "interesting" next year.  As this article state, the Big East is dead. 

(2) The Big East is dead.  Oh wait, we heard that before.  Money quote: "There's a pattern here: The ACC gets what it wants, and the Big East settles for padding its ranks with the scraps."

(3) In the first  good news I've heard in a while, Out Kick the Coverage says W. Virginia is not headed to the SEC.  It's worth clicking on the link to see the pic.  The premise is the SEC President's won't let a University into the league who is, nationally, barely considered a University.  Seems reasonable to me.

(4) I mean, if you burn couches after wins and losses, I don't know if you deserve to be in the SEC anyway.  The fire marshal has declared that all residents must put any potential kindling locked inside their homes before the game begins.  Again, seems reasonable to me.  The fact that he has to ask/enforce this rule, perhaps a bit unreasonable.

(5) Know an honorable man running college sports?  Wait a few minutes.  Not a particularly insightful article, but one that points out how crazy this mess has become.   

(6) Also not insightful: anything coming out of kU's normal circle of sports coverage.   It's almost as if kU and k-State's sports columnists are just walking around in a haze.  If we think we should be nervous at Mizzou, let's just say our friends are feeling worse than we are. 

(7) Mizzou has lots of options, but few certainties, says PowerMizzou.  Meanwhile, Saturday's game at OU could be our last one.  What won't be sad is putting a mark in the loss column every other year since the 60's, what will be sad is the loss of yet another rival.  On to the game this Saturday...21.5 points.  Are you serious?  I know it's a road game and I know they are #1, but really?  Three touchdowns?!? 

(8) I don't know Frank the Tank and I really don't know what he is trying to say here, but I thought I would pass it along for all to see.  Somewhere in the article he's trying to say--I think--that Texas might go indy in football but put all other sports in the ACC and then Notre Dame might do the same?  Good luck getting through it.  It was an idea that hadn't been presented before.  I thought you deserved to know.  You're welcome.

(9) Shocker: Mack Brown wants to keep making up the rules as he goes along and keep getting handsomely rewarded for it.  In other words, he prefers the Big 12 to stay together. 

(10) Not-a-Shocker: T Boone Pickens?  Still an asshole.  His awful little school is lucky to be in the same state with a really good one. 

(11)  A Rock-M-Nation columnists (and founder?) hits the big time with SB Nation.  Congrats.

(12) At Michigan, grandma's participate in shotgun beer races.  Neat?  Neat.

(13) Some random from Mercury News in the Bay Area, CA just tweeted that Pac 12-20 has Mizzou high on its radar.  So that could mean Texas & T Tech or OK and OK State aren't going to the Pac 12-20.  Or it could mean nothing at all...bringing us to...the summary.

Summary
Conference realignment has been a lot lot like a trip to Vegas: Lots of high, lots of lows.  Some laughter, some tears.  Some excitements, some fears.  Right now, though?  I just want to get off the ride.  Let's just get this over with, says the BoCoMo Trib.  To quote: "And as exciting as this realignment ride has been, I’m ready to reach the destination."  Me too.  I'm ready to go home.  Where ever that home may be.

Final Stages and Sad, Bold (and possibly incorrect) Predictions

I have good friend I went to Mizzou with who lives in Colorado.  During school we saw each other almost daily but now the sad reality is is rarely talk.  We see one another once a year or so and follow each other on Facebook.  Its not like it used to be.  Through some good fortune, though, his job in Colorado requires semi-regular travel here to DC and now we get to see each other once every few months.  On his most recent visit we met up with several other alums in DC who also live busy lives that don't intersect with mine as often as any of us would like.  After a great dinner and good conversation I drove my friend home.  He remarked how great the night had been and how, when we're all together, its as if the days we have spent apart don't exist.

Long weeks and busy lives sometimes turn social events into forced situations of endurance.  The people may be good, but the conversation is sometimes forced and awkwardness and fear abound.  What do or don't I talk about.  What do or don't I wear.  What do or don't I bring up in front of others.  Who is judging who and what are their conclusions?  What we remarked about on the ride home that night is that none of these concerns are ever present we the group of us gets together.  Its natural and its easy and everything always feels like it should.  Why?  Because we grew up together, crisscrossing the Mizzou campus getting the formative shared experiences that turned us into the people we are today.

Flash forward to the ASU watch party at Penn Quarter.  Strangers, most of us, outside of the tables at where we set.  Then, right before the game coverage started, a cry throughout the bar...it started with the words "Fight Tiger."  It was all natural, nothing forced.  Groups of people coming together to relive their shared history.

I share this story for two reasons.  First, as a measure of hope.  No matter how conference realignment shakes out, we'll all always have each other and that shared history will cover where ever we're at, be it east, west, south or any and all areas in-between.  Second, I share the story as a measure of sadness.  We share a much lesser but still very real sense of shared history with our Big 12 schools, especially those from the old Big 8 and Big 6.  I remember walking on the field at Nebraska, I remember the tailgate in Iowa State, and I vividly recall one of the worst weekends of my life in Lawrence.  Just like I did with my friends on campus, Mizzou grew up--and watched others grow up--in the Big 6, 8, 12, and now 9.  We've all seen each other at our bests and at our worsts.  While the bond isn't as strong as those I have with my friends, there are bonds there nonetheless.  There might be excitement (or dread) around realignment, but there also has to be an acknowledgement that no matter what happens, something that was once good is being lost forever. 

Also lost forever: the old Big East.  Founding school Syracuse and Pitt are joining the ACC, possibly as early as Sunday tweets Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com.  Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline and others now confirming ACC vote. 

My blog today was going to be an attempt to get us excited about joining the ACC, but as of now that doesn't look like is happening.  I think the ACC stays capped at 14 schools: Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College Clemson, Duke, FL State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami (unfortunately), North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest, Virginia, and Va Tech.  Good basketball, good academics, and a football conference with at least one football program that year in and out could challenge for the national championship (FL State).  By adding us (football) and kU basketball, there would be a lot to like about being an ACC member.  But that scenario is all but dead.  

What does look like is happening is OU and Ok State, at minimum, are headed to the Pac 12, now the Pac 14.  Texas has the make the next move: stay or go?  I think they take a look around and realize, its time for them to get off the sinking ship.  I think the Pac 12 becomes the Pac 16 next week. 

The Big East is then down to 7 football schools (TCU joins next year) and.........15 basketball schools.  It took a while to count.  If only there were 5 other conference-less schools who could bring the Big East to 12 football schools and 20 basketball schools.  Oh wait, there are said schools: Baylor, Missouri, Kansas, K-State, and Iowa State.

Our athletic lives are probably going to look like this:
* Big 12 West Division: TCU, Baylor, Missouri, Kansas, K-State, and Iowa State
* Big 12 East Division: West Virginia, USF, Cincy, Louisville, Rutgers, and UConn

Or instead of playing a full season, we could just play West Virginia once a year in November for the conference championship.  Let's just say that if this happens last year's homecoming will be the last time we'll be on Gameday, E-V-E-R.  Basketball would be an actual upgrade, meaning we get our asses handed to us until we hire a real basketball coach. 

You are the company you keep and the company it looks like we are keeping are significantly (1) dumber academically, (2) farther away geographically, (3) and less athletically challenging (at least in football).  All of this adds up to an unfortunate downgrade.  Worst of all?  Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe might still be the conference commish unless he takes a better post in the Texas athletic department.  In other words, the Big 12 is more likely to absorb the 6 Big East schools because of the TV contact that the Big 12 has that appears to be going to survive a total league collapse. 

I think this is by far the most realistic option.  Others on the table include (in most likely order):

(1) The SEC expanding to 14 schools and either taking us or an ACC School (which last week upped their conference exit fee to $20 million dollars, but 7 million from $13).  If they take an ACC school, we could then be up for sliding into that schools spot. 

(2) Texas saying "screw the Pac-14" and staying put.  kU and us then head west.  Quickly.

(3) All of this expansion talk spooking the Big 10 to add two more schools.  Prayers that we would be one of them. 

Summary
This whole process has been filled with ups and downs.  As we approach the finish line Mizzou is unfortunately in a down part of the process.  We'll know more.  Starting Monday.

Everything Must Belong Somewhere...

...or so says Bright Eyes.  Where do we all belong...that's what we sort through today with a mega-list of links:

(1) The bottom line is Oklahoma will decide where everyone belongs and it looks like they will decide it on Monday.  Brady Deaton agrees, its all up to OU as to what happens next.

(2) SI thinks everyone has lost their mind.  The teams in the Big 12 below where they are.  A funny quote: "The Big 12 does not evoke nostalgic affection. This is the league that diminished and ultimately destroyed Oklahoma-Nebraska, which was one of the top five rivalries in college football. It killed the old Southwestern Conference, which made cheating almost seem charming."

(3) If OU makes the decision to break up the Little 9 by heading west, Texas has a decision to make as to where it belongs.  Texas is scared of the SEC says Out Kick the Coverage.  And they are right.  If you read nothing else, read this.  The two key quotes:

(a) "There's only one issue for Texas -- going to the ACC and flying over the SEC would demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that Texas is scared of the SEC. Why? Because it makes the most financial sense for Texas to join the SEC.   That is, Texas could make more money in the SEC than any other conference. That's because the SEC allows all schools to retain their local media rights. That means the Longhorn Network is the most feasible of all the major conferences in the SEC."

(b) "Texas, who received an offer to join the SEC last year, hasn't explored the SEC at all even as the very foundation of the Big 12 is rocked. Why? Because unlike their Texas A&M brethren the Longhorns are steers, gelded pansies afraid of competing in a real conference. The Longhorns, plain and simple, are bullies, and bullies don't like to be challenged. Instead of joining the conference they border replete with ready national rivalries, Texas would rather fly over the SEC and join the ACC, conference of perennial football lightweights. All hat, no cattle indeed."
 
(4) Jeff Schultz isn't buying that Texas belongs in the ACC.  Perhaps more accurately, he says that they are swooping in to use the conference.  Frank the Tank Disagrees and says the ACC for Texas makes sense.  The Daily is pushing Texas toward the SEC.  

(5) Who is deciding where programs belong?  Doctors and dentists says CBS Sportsline.  An interesting read about how Trustees are trying to serve as Athletic Directors and are failing in the process.

(6) Where does Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe belong?  Evidently making campus visits to schools that are already united in keeping the Little 9 together.  Makes perfect sense to me.

(7) Perhaps the united part of the Little 9 isn't so united, says SB Nation.  A humorous look at a Missouri town who is suing to try and get kU to drop its athletics mascot.  Note the shirt the kid is wearing in the picture in this article. 

(8) Whatever happens, teams don't belong in conferences over 12 members, says SB Nation.  The reason: they all implode.  Quickly.

(9) Meanwhile, the Big East says Mizzou, kU and k-State belong with them.  A funny story. 

(10) The St. Louis P-D asked where Mizzou belongs and the answers from their experts were a bunch of mindless dribble other than this really funny quote from alum Jeff Gordon: "...and poor Frank Haith has nightmares about the ACC talk. Been there, failed at that."

(11) Frank Haith thinks he belongs at Mizzou, since he claims he did nothing wrong at Miami.  Bernie Miklasz wants Haith to keep talking.  My position hasn't changed: he belongs in the unemployment line.

(12) The KC Star says TJ Moe belongs right where he is: at the heart of the Tiger team. Nothing enlightening here, just a good TJ Moe article.  

 

(13) On to baseball, Jim Leyland belongs in some new underwear.  

(14) The Cardinals?  In going on a massive winning streak and settling their bullpen (Motte) and defense (Punto) it looks like they belong in the postseason.  To do so they will have to join history.  Being 4.5 games back of the Braves in the Wild Card and 5.5 back from Milwaukee in the NL Central with 13 more games left to play, I don't see it happening, but I hope it does.

(13) Finally, ESPN says many Little 9 schools belong in bankruptcy if the league breaks apart.  Some tough numbers on the page to read.  Also tough to read, Mizzou is hot on joining the ACC.  

 

The ACC?  I was mad at first but calmer heads prevailed.  They seem to have what we want: academics, basketball, and a football league we can win in.  Think it over.  More on this and the loss of the Big 12 this weekend or early next week.  

 

Summary

Not much new to report, other than the possibility that Mizzou might join the ACC, something that wasn't really written about much before.  The bottom line is everyone is still trying to sort out where they belong.  The pieces start falling into place next Monday with OU.  It should be an interesting week.

Thanks for reading,

Doug

 

Trouble.

Lots of folks looking like they are in trouble today.  Listen to song by Ray LaMontagne by the same name as you make your way through the links:

(1)  Texas is in trouble.  A&M and OU messed with Texas and won, writes Out Kick the Coverage.  If you read nothing else today, read this.  Some quotes: "The Longhorns believe that they are the lone star in a sky devoid of other celestial bodies. The heliocentric theory meets football, Texas as the sun, the moon, and the stars. Finally, Texas A&M had enough."

And: "Suddenly Texas, the school that was going to own the nation, is riding second saddle, clinging to A&M and Oklahoma for dear life. 

Only most Longhorn fans haven't realized it yet. 

Oklahoma and Texas A&M finally stared down Texas, tumbleweeds blowing past, with both schools poised to fire. Texas blinked first.  

Yes, the Big 12 may well survive thanks to the television contracts. And Texas may well make even more money. 

But money without good games is a dangerous place to find yourself in a country that is soon to be over run with mega-conferences."

Finally: "The Longhorn Network may have won Texas the battle, but in the process Texas A&M and Oklahoma have won the war."

(2) The trouble with trouble, though, is that its all relative.  Who's in more trouble than Texas?  Missouri.  The SEC is putting forward some pretty tough talk about having a 13 not 14 league conference next year with a schedule already in the works.  The Pac 12-20 doesn't seem like it will take us as they'll probably go +2 (OU and OK State) or +4 (TX, TX Tech) but not +6 (Mizzou, kU).  And the Big 10?  The silence is deafening. 

(3) Out Kick the Coverage may be right, the Little 9 might turn Little 7 and then grow to the Awful 7-10: (1) Texas, (2) Texas Tech, (3) Missouri, (4) Baylor, (5) Iowa State, (6) Kansas, (7) Kansas State, (8) TCU, and (9) Houston.  That's trouble, if I've ever seen it.  If you aren't freaking out, now is the time to freak out.

(4) Who else is in trouble?  The SEC.  They are in danger of becoming the second best conference in college football.  To who?  The Big 12, of course.  Breaking up this conference makes prefect sense.

(5) Who else is 'fixin to get in trouble if they don't shut their mouth?  Ken Starr.  Yes, that Ken Starr.  Read his exaggerated editorial and then read this brilliant response.  Some money quotes:

(a) "So, Ken Starr, sit down and let’s have a big boy talk. The truth is, Ken, your little school is going to be thrown off the bus because it hasn’t grown its own product. That’s on you and yours, buddy boy. You’ve been last in the Big 12 in football attendance every single year. You’ve won 18 conference games in 15 seasons. Your stadium is a dump."

(b)  "Unfortunately, the breakup of the Big 12 is upon us, and Baylor is about to see how they live on the other side of town. At least, Baylor will see some old friends there.


For instance, TCU. Baylor dumped TCU in the ditch, and then something remarkable happened. TCU started over and built a great program one brick at a time. Instead of suing people, TCU went to work. SMU also built a new stadium, and UH will break ground on one early next year. Baylor has some catching up to do no matter what conference it ends up in.

It’ll be fun for Baylor to catch up with Rice, UH and SMU and see how the last 15 years have gone.

Don’t worry, Ken. They’ll be totally sympathetic to your plight. You should tell them how important it is to respect history and how awful it would be to tear these wonderful traditions and rivalries apart.
Look them right in the eye, Ken, and tell them you just don’t understand why people would throw these things away."

(6) Pre-Snap Read joins in the fun and says they don't buy what Ken Starr is selling.  Does anyone?

(7) Back to Missouri: we had some trouble at ASU.  We also did some things right.  Here's a good post about both from Rock M Nation. 

(8) SHOCKER: a kU football player is in trouble. 

(9) Maryland students are in trouble with their AD after some unruly fan behavior to an 11 year old boy during their win over The u. 

(10) Finally, the Cardinals manager has them in trouble.  After looking out of the race they climbed back in and are only 3.5 game back of the wildcard.  It could have been 2.5 back after last night, but in LaRussa's desire to win, he managed them to a loss. 

Busy day...no summary.  Take the time you would have taken to read the summary and put out some prayers the SEC invites us to join their party. 

Thanks for reading,

Doug

It's going down...

The theme of the day: its going down.  Feel free to listen to the song of the same name by Vampire Weekend and pull out the emotions/themes you need to get you through the links today: love, hope, despair, loneliness.  They're all here, in the links:

(1) Orangebloods.com says the Little 9 is going down.  The say that OU and OK State will apply for membership in the Pac 12-20 before the end of the month.  Never mind the words from T Boone Pickens saying OK State wants to stay in the Little 9 and never mind the Pac 12-20 commish saying they don't want to expand at present.  Orangeboods says its happening.  And what of Texas?  They say "all options" are being considered.

(2) One of those options for Texas?  Crawling on its hands and knees to Norman to beg OU face-to-face to stay in the Little 9.  Or so tweets @ChuckCarltonDMN of the Dallas Morning News.  He says: "Big 12 school sources confirm high-ranking UT delegation traveled Sunday to Oklahoma City to meet with OU officials about alignment issues."  Two things: (1) the mere thought of this has been the greatest thing to come out of this realignment talk, and (2) if your name is Chuck Carlton of course you live in Texas.

(3) Who didn't like Texas getting down on their hands and knees?  Their BFF Texas Tech.  Reason?  Tech wasn't informed on the high level trip.  They are mad for two reasons: (1) by not being invited they think they might be getting left out of the expansion talk, and (2) they are siding with OU and OK State in thinking its time for the Little 9 to go down.

(4) The Little 9's not going down until A&M officially joins the SEC, tweets @kbohls of the Austin American-Statesman.  His non-so-Texas name is Kirk Bohls, but fear not, Chuck Carlton agrees that the Pac-12 isn't making the first move.  

(5) In the daily finger pointing of what brought down the Little 9, Berry Tramel points the finger squarely at Texas.  The latest rumors are Texas is willing to revenue share if the Little 9 stays together.  It's too little too late, Tramel says.  Its about more than money, he points out, and says for A&M its not about money but about pride and finally getting out of the shadow and away from bully.  For OU?  They aren't mad at Texas and want them the join the wagon train west, Tramel says.  For them, folding the Little 9 is all about believing the conference won't last.  He writes: "They're tired of the drama. Tired of the fatigue. Tired of never knowing what their landscape will look like a year from now."  Tramel also puts forth a new name for the current Little 9: The Big Mess Conference.  I like it.  

(6) What brought Missouri down at the end of the game to ASU?  Something I forgot to mention in my recap: why did we even have two time outs to ice our kicker in the first place.  A great case is made at the every end of this article by Tim McKernan.

(7) Because of injuries we're down to our last remaining running back.  Other options? A walk-on, a red-shirt freshman, and our top receiver, TJ Moe.  

(8) For those conspiracy theorists among us: the Mizzou Board of Curators is meeting tonight to discuss the "System President Search."  Last time they did this, we hired a new basketball "coach" (term used loosely).  Could they announce a new conference after tonight?  Doubtful.

(9) In other news, Bud Selig let the terrorists win last night and (separate issue altogether) this is awesome.  


Summary
(a) We don't know much more than we did a few days ago about conference realignment.
(b) After appearing to be going down in shreds, the Little 9 rebounded for a while, only to be appeared headed down once again.
(c) The next move still rests with OU, as it has ever since they opened their mouth about this two weeks ago.  
(d) In what generally doesn't happen, Gary Pinkel is defending his indefensible coaching decisions last Friday night.  It's unusual and unusually sad.  He's built up enough credit with the fan base to take the blame on this one, and he should.


Thanks for reading,


Doug

Sobering Realities

The light of day didn't provide any extra insights on the game last night: it's still a frustrating game we should have won and it's still a game that won't kill our season.  For instant analysis see my previous post.

In summary:
(a) Questionable calls
(b) Terrible defense
(c) Good QB play
(d) Down to one RB (plus Franklin)
(e) Franklin's physically beat up

All of this can be found in the game article from the KC Star.

Not a lot of new Mizzou or conference info today, I guess people are actually watching the games.  Here some links, many of them funny:
(1) Baylor is 90 miles away from A&M, yet sold the fewest number tickets to the game at A&M than any other opponent.  Interesting non-explanations from Baylor. 

(2) Texas says it doesn't want to be independent, but it sure acts that way.  As the article points out, they're putting forward lots of ego and power. 

(3) The Pac 12 "says" it doesn't want to expand.  Take that with a grain of salt.  It does bring up an interesting question, though: If OU decides to leave the Little 9, is there anywhere for them to go?  All of a sudden the Little 9 looks like it might be around for a while.  I don't know if that's a good thing.  It would be if all the hatred was handled on the football field, but we don't seem to like to play things that way.

(4) Coastal Carolina football coach gives the presser of the year.  I can't exactly explain what is going on, but it involves cats, dogs, children and football players looking in the mirror.  He also has an incredible mustache.  You have to click on this link.

(5) In baseball news, Joe Morgan has found his calling and will lead the world's largest chicken dance.  And, this Phillies has lost whatever mind he once had.

I think I might be losing my mind as well.  Iowa State looked really good in their win over Iowa.  We've got a long season ahead but if last night proved anything, our players are up for the challenge. 

Thanks for reading,

Doug

Instant (and perhaps intoxicated) Analysis

Real tough loss in OT tonight for your Tigers.  A few thoughts:

(1) We lost a running back tonight, but gained another one.  Josey looked great but unfortunately, he's all that appears to be left on the depth chart. 

(2) We also appeared to gain a quarterback.  While I could argue with a couple of decisions, Franklin looked like an entirely different QB than he did last week and one that will win quite a few games in his career.

(3) In non-positive news: our defense was horrible.  If you play a soft zone at all times, the line as the get to the QB not part of the time, but all of the time.  If someone isn't always in his face,  good QB can pick apart the zone.  That's what happened tonight.  Our line got a few key sacks late in the game, but overall we didn't provide adequate pressure that would protect our secondary playing in a soft zone.

(4) In positive news, the District watch party was amazing.  Penn Quarter was packed.  We need to make this the site of the watch party.

(5) As I said previously, we've got to get used to a team that gets better every week.  Areas to get better: closing quicker on the soft zone, Franklin making better decisions (and not scampering for a 1.5 yard gain each time), receivers running better routes, o-line providing better protection, and the d-line getting more penetration.

(6) As I said previously, I'm a big Gary Pinkel fan.  I posed a question in a previous post about whether or not if the Little 9 were dissolving 10 years ago, would we be listed among the untouchables (Baylor, K-State, Iowa State).  I think we would have.  Then GP arrived and took us to a higher level.  Tonight, though, GP and his staff lost us this game.  My issues:

(a) Not calling timeouts in the drive at the end of the first half.  I know we don't have a Gabbert QBing and I know he was tying to play conservative and not turn the ball over, but COME ON WE'RE TRYING TO WIN A GAME.  A few good plays and we're in striking distance.  We miss a 50+ FG to end the half but wouldn't have had to kick that long of one if we had called timeouts.  We basically wasted around 20 seconds and those 20 seconds would have allowed for one or two more plays that could have got us closer and led to a more realistic field goal. 

(b) With more points on the board he would have had more of a cushion to go for it on the goal line on the first drive in the second half.  We settled for a field goal, but if we failed to get into the end zone we would have had them pinned on the 1 yard line.

(c) We had them stopped at the end of the third quarter and settling for a field goal, but they got a penalty and instead of making them settle for a FG we accepted and gave them an extra freaking down.  They used that down to get a...touchdown.

(d) Let's review: at this point if he had even made one of these decision opposite of what he did, we've won the game in regulation...

(e) ...but he didn't.  So we march the ball down the field in the last minutes of regulation and get into field goal range in the last seconds and...

(f) ...ice our own kicker.  Evidently GP says ASU was jumping off sides a lot during the game and he was trying to get us another 5 yards...that would have been great if we would have needed another 5 yards for a weak legged kicker.  Instead our strong legged kicker misses after back to back timeouts by GP. 

(g) Never fear, we can always win in OT.  We just need to win the flip and take the ball to put pressure on the other team...oh...wait...we won the flip but chose to play defense because statically the team that takes the ball first wins.  Makes perfect sense.

(h) I don't know who was calling offensive plays in OT, but they did an awful job.  GP or Yost, its doesn't really matter. 

Summary
Its hard to see heroes make mistakes, but GP and his staff made PLENTY tonight.  They took us to our current heights, but the reality is this loss also has to be pinned on them.  It wasn't all bad, though.  The DC crew found a new watch party location, and we found a new QB and RB.  The good news, as one Mizzou fan told us tonight: we weren't going win a national championship this year and this game was just a non-conference loss.  In other words, we'll live to fight another day.  Here's to that, and here's to our players and coaches cutting down on their mistakes and living up to their potential. 

The Best Conference Realignment Article Yet

Bottom line: it doesn't get better than this.  In a behind the music oral history of the Big 12 breakup, Every Day Should Be Saturday, drops a few great lines: 

(1) "Missouri: I'm...I don't want to talk too much about any of this. Still sort of in between things. I respect everyone in the band. Let's just say that. Wait, I'm sorry. Texas can eat a taint-flavored lollipop. A dude's taint, not some hot lady, okay? They can just eat that all day long, far as I'm concerned. Used to use my bathroom to shit in, and not his own. Every. Single. Night. What kind of an asshole thinks he's too good to streak his own toilet? I mean, really. Ask yourself that."

(2) "Nebraska: The SEC? I dunno. I've heard it's less like a band, and more a cult or something.
Oklahoma: I don't want to talk about that. You never know.
Missouri: I've heard it's nice."

(3) "Kansas: Wait, wait: I was in a band?"

It will all make sense when you read the article.  Also, be sure you hit up this link within the article.

Not many new developments, just a few links:
(1) Good news: you can now bet on college football conference realignment.

(2) SI reminds us that all this expansion talk has happened before.  From their vault: a look back at college football in 1990.

(3) Resident Asshole T Boon Pickets somehow made his way on-air during a OK State's national telecast.  SHOCKER: he's changed his mind again and says the Little 9 will stay together.  A humorous account of this can be found here.

(4) From the comments section, CB writes: "...I would appreciate your insight into this quote from the president of the not-nearly-as-good-as-they-think-they-are school in Texas on being upset that other Big 12 schools may be so audacious as to ask that everyone live up to contracts previously agreed to:

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6939017/texas-aggies-accepted-sec-legal-threat-delays-move

"We are being held hostage right now," Loftin said of being forced to stay in the Big 12. "Essentially, we're being told that you must stay here against your will and we think that really flies in the face of what makes us Americans for example and makes us free people."

If the Aggies met Baylor in a courtroom I'd be rooting for a bomb to go off.  I think the lawsuit is, among other things, lame.  If a marriage breaks up, you don't sure to try and keep it together.  Let's play this out...let's say Baylor wins the lawsuit and A&M stays in the Little 9.  What, exactly, does that do for the league?  It chains an institution to us that doesn't want to be here and one that other members aren't too fond of right now, either.  Additionally, Ken Starr is Baylor's President.  Let's just say he has a history of taking things too far.

As far as it being un-American, that makes A&M sound as ridiculous and desperate as Baylor.  I think everyone should drink a big glass of Grow-The-Hell up.  The lawsuit would have merit if, say, Baylor or Iowa State or another member institution had started construction on a new stadium (or the like) and were going to pay for it out of revenues of the new TV contract.  A few thoughts on that: (1) I don't know of any cases of this, (2) it will be extremely hard to prove, and (3) this is less about the law and more about emotions and blame placing.

A question I have for everyone covering this: Why the hell is OU getting a free pass regarding the Little 9's demise?  No one was happy when A&M left, but no one was actively talking about the conference falling apart until OU shot off it's mouth about looking elsewhere.  Then the scramble was on.  I agree with one of the articles I linked to yesterday that said this really isn't anyone's specific fault and everyone is just out for self-preservation.  But if blame has to be laid other than on Mr. Longhorn and on greedy Texas, I think there is blood equally dispersed on A&M and OU's hands.  Additionally, I now hate Colorado.

(5) Moving away from football and onto basketball recruiting...I've been saying we don't have a head coach and now, so are the recruits.  A top recruit in the nation doesn't know our head coach's name?  Yup, Haith sure is doing a great job.  Every time Alden gives him praise, it just erodes his own credibility.

Summary
(1) Everyone's still blaming and suing instead of moving forward.
(2) T Boone Pickens is still an asshole.
(3) I know hate Colorado.
(4) Haith is running our basketball team about like Mike Brown ran FEMA. 

Reflection
There is more to life than sports and that hits some at times when sports and life and death collide.  I can't imagine losing an entire professional sports team in a plane crash, but that is what they are dealing with in Russia right now. 

It's an odd time in DC, 10 years after 9/11.  I've found two rather enlightening websites if you are interested.  One is from Time, the other is from the NYT.  Listen to Tom Brokaw on the Time site.

Speaking of DC, for the Tiger Crowd in the area tonight, see you all at the watch party tonight at Penn Quarter Tavern. 

Thanks for reading,

Doug

Beebe Lives! Big 10 Dreams Die! Lots of Links!

Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe stopped his drinking binge (or whatever he is on) long enough to release a statement.  Like most everything he does, I think it was pretty weak.  Basically, he said Big 12 central offices wouldn't sue SEC but that didn't cover individual member schools.

Or in other words, Congress and the President could sign a peace treaty with France but each state's national guard could ship troops over and invade.  The real question is this: other than his own stupidity, what did Mr. Longhorn get from the SEC in return for not suing centrally?  The answer to that question may be a problem for Mizzou fans.  Although its pure speculation at this point, many national journalists are thinking that Beebe got an agreement that the SEC wouldn't take any other Little 9 schools.

If the SEC is out, we're in trouble. Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou.com tweets that the Big 10 isn't adding more members.  If the SEC doesn't take Mizzou, we're headed way west or way east.

Speaking of tweets, to lighten the mood before the links here is the best one from yesterday via Sam Mellinger of the KC Star: "In his next career, I wonder if Dan Beebe would make for a good divorce attorney. He'd be your first choice to rep your spouse, anyway."

On to the links:
(1) Alum Pat Forde of ESPN says this whole thing is laughable.  The key sentence pointed out by a loyal reader: "So the implosion of the Big 12 clearly would be a scary thing for Baylor. Same for the largely undesirable commodities to the north known as Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State." Controversial question for the comments section: 10 years ago is our (Mizzou's) name in that sentence?

(2) Baylor seems to think they are saving football more than saving themselves.  This person seems to think the Baptists are also saving souls. 

(3) Greg Tepper of Dave's Cambell's Texas Football says, there are no villains in realignment. There are, though, plenty of emotions:

"But that’s when I get back to the emotion part, something I simply can’t grasp. Fans want to see their school do better than every other school (understandably so), which is why you see illogical, irrational statements like “Sticking it to Texas” and “Baylor’s being desperate.” Neither of those is true.

College football, first and foremost, is a business. These are business decisions. If Apple were making these decisions, we’d applaud them for doing what’s best for their shareholders.

A&M (with the SEC) and Baylor (with the reported threatened legal action) and OU (with reported flirting with the Pac-12) and Texas (with the Longhorn Network) are only acting in their best interest as institutions."

(4) Whoever is to blame, we need to get to a resolution quickly says NewsOK.  The trip is killing us!


(5) If you are really bored at work, here are a shit-ton of links from Mr. SEC.com. 

(6) Here is Rivals.com preview of Friday night's game.

Summary
Everyone is blaming everyone else for this mess instead of moving us forward toward resolution.  It will be interesting to see who steps up.  I think it has to be Oklahoma.  Once they make a decision, others will quickly follow suit.

Something sad to ponder which was posted by a reader on the Forde column: 60% of the Little 9 are currently ranked in the Top 25.  Why, again, are we blowing up this league?  As Tepper said above, it's all about emotions and what we're seeing is a very emotional and very public divorce.  Worst news of all?  Dan "Mr. Longhorn" Beebe is our divorce lawyer. 

Mid Afternoon Update: Updates + First Two Little 9 Games + Comparing the Options

Not a lot of updates since the mega-post earlier, but here is what's new/interesting since then:

(1) In a shock to no-one, Arkansas turned down the Little 9's invite to join the league.  Quickly.

(2) The heartland will be left without a conference, writes KC Star's Sam Mellinger.  If you read nothing else, read this one.  Money quote: "In a sort of Whac-A-Mole game gone wild, no logical theory goes unchallenged for more than a few hours, no rumor is safe for more than a day, and even credible sources contradict one another." In other words, hold on tight until the ink dries on all of the contracts.

(3) Someone wants Mizzou to go to the SEC.  The benefit of this unproductive site is that is maps out possible SEC Divisions.  More on that below.

(4) Here's a free mailbag from PowerMizzou.com.  It outlines the site's thoughts on the different leagues.

In summary, what we have is a high stakes game of chicken.  Whether OU leaves or not, the Little 9 is pretty much dead.  The SEC has been quotes as saying OU isn't worth the price of having to take OK State.  There is also bad blood there from last summer when the SEC wanted OU and were rebuffed.  With that option off the table and in desperate need of at least one more team the SEC could stop Big 10 expansion dead in its tracks by taking Mizzou.

The Big 10 is in a hard spot in that its feeling good with the army its got and its know if it takes Mizzou it will end up having to take at least one other team it doesn't.  I'm scared to put this in print, but I don't see how kU is all that bad.  Ideally the Big 10 will step up, take both Mizzou and kU and we can put this whole ugly episode behind us.  I just don't think that is going happen.  Out of all of the conferences, the Big 10 has been the slowest to react.  If Mizzou gets an offer from another conference and doesn't have one from the Big 10, its got to take the other offer.

Worst case, we stay buddies with kU and join the Big East, who has a real commissioner.  While the football match-ups don't look appealing, with a 10 team league my guess is (1) a new TV deal will happen, and (2) new bowl game agreements will be reached.  DC folks will also get a great chance to see, in person or on TV, a good deal of games.  In basketball we're upgraded, which is a problem because we don't presently have a coach, but I'm sure once this conference thing gets sorted out, Alden will turn his attention there next.  Right?

That's a bad worst case, but not the absolute end of the world.  We'd win football conference championships for at least the next 5-10 years.  I guess the actual worst case is the Little 9 stay intact, but lets not even think about that right now.

Most likely I think we'll end up in the SEC if we don't end up in the Big East.  Entering the best football conference in the nation brings some excitement, but also brings some acid reflux when you start looking at the scheduling.

I think the most logical thing to do would be to divide the SEC into East and West Divisions.  I agree with one of the dividing lines on the website above that puts Mizzou, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Miss State, LSU, Bama and A&M in the West and FL, UK, TN, Vandy, SC, GA and Auburn in the East.  Each side has two terrible teams (West: Ole Miss, M State; East: UK, Vandy) and two powerhouses (East: FL, Auburn/GA; West: Bama, LSU).  The problem with this arrangement is the Iron Bowl between Bama and Auburn but that could be worked out where they play each other every year as one of their out-of-division game.

The other alignment proposed has Mizzou, Vandy, TN, UK, UGA, SC and FL in the NE Division and Arkansas, A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, M State, Bama, and Auburn in the SW Division.  I guess this assumes that SC stays good, FL adapts to its new coach, UGA gets over the hump, and TN finds its way back to glory.  If not, the SW Division with LSU, Bama, and Auburn appears to be much stronger.  I also don't think we'd be doing back flips about playing A&M (and in our TX recruiting grounds) only once every several years rather than every year.  I think East and West alignment is most likely.

Based on that premise let's look at our schedule this year versus a possible SEC West schedule:

Little 9 (my predictions for each game)
Miami OH -- Win
Arizona St -- Win (more on this below)
Western IL -- Win
Oklahoma -- Loss
K-State -- Win
Iowa State -- Win
OK State -- Win (more on this below)
A&M -- Loss
Baylor -- Win (more on this below)
Texas -- Win (finally)
Texas Tech -- Win
Kansas -- Win

Total Record: 10-2

SEC West
Miami OH -- Win
Arizona St -- Win
Western IL -- Win
Arkansas -- Win (?)
Ole Miss -- Win
Miss State -- Win
LSU -- Loss
Bama -- Loss
A&M -- Loss (road)
SEC East -- Win (one of the bad ones)
SEC East -- Loss (one of the good ones on the road)
SEC East -- Win (?)

Total Record: 7.5-4.5

As you can see, life gets more difficult.  We'll have to rise to the occasion.  In terms of Big East or SEC...today with an unclear mind I'm siding SEC as much as that hurts to type.

Speaking of rising to the occasion, that brings us to last week's performance and this Friday's game...

Friday we'll be without six starters, including our starting tailback who has a broken leg.  Not good.  Last Saturday our offense wasn't very good either, with lots of breakdowns in lots of different places, says GP.  The good news?  WE WON.  The even better news?  Franklin gave himself a "D" grade for the game and was able to break down what went wrong and why it went wrong. 

After loss its good to hear from frank assessment from team and coaching staff.  As I said in the preview to the game, this is a team that is going to have to get better each week.  What shocked and scared me, though, is the position we're starting from.  The offense looked so out of synch that I just don't know if we can recover in a short week and beat ASU on the road.  Alum Pat Forde says we can't, and takes ASU 21-17.  I picked the Tigers to win, but I'm not feeling great about that and my OK State & Baylor predictions.  I'll keep the faith, though, and take Mizzou 14-10 (not a misprint) over ASU in an ugly game.  Our best hope: one of those two TDs are on defense and one of our running backs steps up and doesn't turn the ball over.  It will be ugly, but a win is a win.  Here is hoping for one more this week.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: Iowa State joins the Baylor lawsuit and reports have kU and Kansas State jumping on board as well.  Note the fact that we aren't and also note that it all means this won't get resolved this week, next week, or anytime soon.

"Good bye to Texas University; So long to the orange and white...

 ...Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies; They are the boys who show the real old fight; "the eyes of Texas are upon you;" That is the song they sing so well (Sounds like hell!); So good bye to Texas University." -- Aggie War Hymn

So much to say, but where to start?  Here's how I got into this whole mess, if you are interested.  Unlike the Big 12-3 I'm wide open for constructive comments on how to improve, so fire away. How did the Big 12-3 get here? I'll attempt to explain that and where we all could be headed below.  Sorry for the length and delay in getting this out.  While you read, enjoy this appropriate song from The Avett Brothers, Tear Down the House.

How did we get here?
(1) As St. Louis P-D columnist Joe Strauss tweets: "Big 12 died last year. Now the body's growing cold."  He also calls the Big 12-3 the Little 9, which is what I will refer to it as from here on out.

(2) The conference wasn't doomed when Nebraska left, its was doomed when Colorado left.  We should have recognized they were the canary in the coalmine.  If one of your best programs gets picked off for another conference, you're in demand.  If a middle tier program leaves your conference for somewhere else, you're in deep trouble.  They left the Little 9 for a conference with lower annual payouts and didn't complain.  The end was near, we just didn't realize it.  Meanwhile, Colorado doesn't like the fact that their old neighbors are talking about moving into the new neighborhood.  I kind of think its cute they think they have a say in all of this.

(3) What this comes down to is fairness.  College sports are perceived to be a level playing field (debatable): same scholarships, same number of games, etc.  What happened in the Little 9 is Texas started throwing its weight around and the perception was things became unfair--quickly.  Already the school with the most resources and highest athletic budget, Texas wasn't satisfied with what they had and they reached for more.  That more equated into 15 millions dollars a year more than the other institutions which was a far better deal to the little guys than the 25 million dollar gap it looked like it would be initially.  Still, it was a tough pill to swallow.  In an earlier post about Painter, I alluded that  his relationship with Purdue was playing out like a divorce.   Here is what I learned about divorces: (1) They are emotional and messy and get really personal at the end, and (2) They generally aren't based on current events/behaviors or future events/behaviors, they are almost always based on events/behaviors that have occurred in the past.

Bottom line, as KC Star columnist Sam Mellinger says on Twitter is: "The Big 12 is the best place for all remaining schools, as long as they believe it is. Problem is, they don't."  Because divorces aren't always based on logic and long-term best interests.  They are generally emotional and deal with short-term score settling.

Where exactly are we at?
(1) Last Saturday, Oklahoma, announced they had wondering eyes and were exploring options to join other conferences and will have an answer in a matter of "72 hours to 3 weeks."

(2) T Boone Pickens then chimes in that OK State would do whatever OK decides to do.  That's the same T Boone who criticized Mizzou for looking to join the Big 10 a year ago.  Not that this is any shock because he's always a bit late to the party.  After destroying the environment and taking money out of citizens pockets as head of a massive energy company, he's now an environmentalist.  After singing the song of Big 12 unity he's now all about leaving the Big 9.  In Missouri we have a word for people like T Boone: assholes.

(3) Last night the SEC voted and decided to ask Texas A&M to the prom.  A&M will accept the invite on Wednesday. 

(4) OU's hand is forced, they need to make a call on what they are doing: sticking with the Little 9 or moving, basically, into whatever conference they want to join. 

(5) In his typical form, Dan "Mr. Longhorn Beebe" is doing nothing.  Money quote: "Seriously, where is Dan Beebe? Why haven't we heard from the Big 12 Conference commissioner? Why haven't we heard one peep from Dallas that shows us this "aggressive" plan to save the conference from extinction? Why haven't we heard anyone telling us about all the schools that are lining up for a chance to play in the Big 12 (I mean other than the ones that Texas is handpicking to simply keep its TV network empire afloat and allow it to roll on as the unfettered, greedy monster and ruling lord of the land)? Where is someone from this conference, anyone for crissakes, who is telling us something more reassuring than "remain calm … all is well … pay no attention to collapsing walls, burning floors and the scavengers stealing all the furniture"?"

Where exactly are we headed?
(1) Bottom line: it's anyone's guess.  When folks are talking about Texas joining the ACC, you know no one has a clue.

(2) Where ever we are headed, Texas is sweating it.  Its almost as if A&M knew they couldn't beat them on the athletic field so they would just ruin their world by dissolving the conference and possibly ending their Longhorn Network TV deal.  That's not a misprint.  Texas over-reached and in doing so destroyed its kingdom.  They have no one to blame but themselves.  Its somewhat of a sad sight to see these days, the whole regime hiding out in Austin sending out fake positive news reports.  It's a lot like Libya.  Minus the death and looting.

(3) All signs point to OU heading west and joining the Pac Whatever Conference.  Within the article it accurately points out that OK State heads with them.  Needing to add two more schools, Texas and Texas Tech would be choice #1 but if they fell through, Mizzou and kU would be choice #2.

(4) The New York Times says Texas is in the expansion drivers seat once again.

(5) It also brings up the unfortunate news that the Big East has allegedly offered spots in the conference to Mizzou, kU, and K-State.  Welcome, Mizzou fans, to a 20 team basketball conference (20!) and shitty 10 team football league.  That doesn't exactly sound appealing, but at least we won't be left out in the cold like, say, Baylor.

(6) Speaking of Baylor, they think they can sue the SEC and/or get the Texas Legislature involved  keep the Little 9 together.  Their slogan, Don't Mess with Texas Football, is pretty cute.  Almost as cute as a BCS qualifier league letting a small, obscure religious school have the time of their life for a few years.  Baylor, its been a good run but its time you all face the facts.

(7) Kansas State bloggers are about as good about predicting the future as the school is picking new mascots.

(8) The Big 10's nightmare scenario: having to pick up Iowa State.  Included is the hot new Big 10 logo.  For what its worth, the Big 10 is NOT talking expansion and might sit on the sidelines as the Little 9 gets carved up.

(9) If the Big 10 sits this one out, where does this leave Mizzou?  Many national media types have us joining the SEC.  Most are saying its between us and West Virginia.

(10) Like most things over at Grantland.com, this article by Bryan Curtis about Southern Pride leaves much to be desired.  But it does get a few points across.  In the south, football is King and in football, the King is the SEC.  The last two paragraphs are the most interesting:

"The tight-knit southernness the conference has nurtured is being threatened by …Texanness. As Finebaum puts it, "This is a fraternity, OK? I don't think the upper echelon of the fraternity — which would be Florida and Alabama — are going to be real happy about a bunch of cowboys showing up at a rush party."

For the first few years, A&M likely will be only a part-member of the SEC. Sure, it'll get a Saturday slot on CBS and the right to an annual beatdown at the hands of Alabama. But it'll stand outside the New South winner's circle the SEC has carved out. It's a nightmare, believe me. As a college football fan, there's nothing worse than hearing "S-E-C!" and realizing, with a mix of hate and envy, that they're not talking about you."

I can't help but share some of those same sentiments.  While we might be extended an offer to get a weekly Saturday beat down, it won't fully be because they want us or we want them.  We might hear the chants, but they won't be referring to us.

Summary
This next week will say a lot about Mizzou football, both on and off the field.  Right now it’s too soon to tell what is going to happen and when it’s going to happen.  A&M is gone.  The ball is in OU's court.  At some point we'll end up somewhere.  It won't be like anyplace we've been before, but that it what evolution is all about: surviving, adapting, and advancing.

More about Friday's game and last Saturday's debacle coming tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Doug